and for that, they have my deepest gratitude and sincere thanks. i know the deepest gratitude and sincere thanks of all members of this body. we deeply appreciate what they do for our nation. i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to work together to get the work of the nation done. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yield back the balance. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> i yield two minutes to the ranking member of our government ops subcommittee, mr. connolly. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, it's been an orwellian week in which black is white and white black. we have members that vote for the shut down who appeared surprised that that led to the

closure of national parks, which did not stop some of them from berating park federal employees from enforcing the shut down. we have other members in this orwellian week, saying the shutdown is all about respect and we have got to get something out of this. we just do not know what it is. so finally, a moment of decency. finally, we turn to the men and women who serve our country. 800,000 employees and we do something decent for them. we alleviate the angst of whether there will be a paycheck when we get around to reopening the government. one of those workers received the prestigious service to america medal in recognition of his exemplary leadership of the 6000 person team that conceived and executed nasa's incredible curiosity rover mars mission.

america is on a legally fortunate to have -- is fortunate to have this outlook worker whose public service should be celebrated and appreciated and compensated. on october 1, dave was one of the nasa employees deemed nonessential and was furlough. the irony was that dave had to consult the ethics office to see if he could go to his own awards ceremony because of the nonessential status. that is what we are reduced to. today's bill at least redresses one wrong in this otherwise orwellian exercise called the shutdown. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield two minutes to the

gentleman from nebraska. >> thank you, and i want to thank the gentleman from virginia for their efforts but also for coming up to me and asking me to be an early advocate of this very important bill. like them, i have many constituents that are utterly employees that are looked -- for load -- furloughed right now. the legislation we are considering here today will make sure that the 800,000 federal employees are paid for the time lost or off work during this impasse. we worked last week in a bipartisan effort to make sure that our military would be paid, and including -- included in that bill was also very clear language that protected civilian dod workers from furlough.

unfortunately, in a bizarre "what the definition of is is" discussion, they for load -- furloughed almost 60% to 70%. having a bill like this where we come together in a bipartisan way, we can reduce some level of frustration. we can give some level of peace of mind to those employees that they will be reimbursed for their time lost. they will get paid. i want the dod today to put those civilian dod employees back to work, as is clearly in the law. there is historical precedent for this all the way back to ronald reagan times with tip o'neill and their six close

downs, that the employees were paid to reimburse for their time off. so we should be for this effort. this is bipartisan. the president said he would sign this. i urge my colleagues to support this effort. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i yield one minute to mr. van hollen from marilyn. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> thank you. no one should be made to suffer for actions that are no fault of their own, so i'm very pleased we are taking up this measure to ensure that dedicated federal workers, who are among the many innocent victims of this government shutdown, will be held harmless in the long run, but this important measure simply highlights the sheer folly of keeping the federal government shut down for one additional minute. these are public servants who

are paid to do what they love to do -- to serve the public. so, for goodness sake, let them all get back to work for the public now. this bill, mr. speaker, does not say, "let's just pay the federal employees at fema." it does not say, "let's just pay the federal employees at the national parks." it does not just say, "let's just pay the federal employees at the piecemeal, cherry picking agencies our republican colleagues have brought to the floor." let's open the entire federal government and do it now. mr. speaker, let us have a vote on that very simple proposition. >> the gentleman's time is expired. chair recognizes digital men from ohio. >> i yield one minute to the gentlelady from michigan. >> the chair recognizes the gentlelady from michigan. >> mr. speaker, i support this bill which will make sure that

federal workers who are furloughed because of the shutdown are paid, but i would point out that the average salary of a federal worker is $78,500, so i do not understand how my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can decide which of the funding bills we have passed during this shutdown are worthy of their support. this week, they said no to opening up our national memorials or opening up our national sparks -- national parks, but they say yes to federal workers, no to veterans benefits, no two women and babies on food assistance, no two children on cancer treatment, no to the national guard and reserve, but yes to other federal workers. clearly, it is time for both sides, mr. speaker, it down in a conference, to negotiate a compromise in a bipartisan manner, and to end this shutdown. i yield back. >> gentlelady yields back. the gentlemen from maryland.

>> we on this side of the aisle said yes to opening the entire government. with that, i yield to my distinguished colleague from washington 45 seconds. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from washington. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to strongly support this bill. for the last few years, federal workers have borne the brunt of congress' failures to deal with long-term budget issues. going for years without a cost- of-living adjustment. facing furloughs from sequestration and now the uncertainty of are the reductions in pay because of the shutdown. enough is enough. this shutdown is having a big impact not just on dod workers and v.a. workers and others facing furloughs, but on our entire community. folks who will not be able to replace a car or make a home payment or go buy a new tv -- that affects our economy. that's why i support this bill and why i'm introducing legislation to provide back a --

back paid to workers to remunerate them for sequestration-related shutdowns as well. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield one minute to the gentleman from colorado. >> chair recognizes digital men from colorado. >> thank you. i rise in support of hr 2233, the federal employees retroactive pay fairness act. this is an issue of fairness. five days ago, the president signed my legislation, the pay our military act, but hours later, the dod comptroller sent an e-mail to all dod civilian employees who were included in the act, which is now law, that starting -- that there would be furloughs starting immediately, despite acknowledgment of the new law.

last night, media sources reported that the secretary of defense had a change of heart. no doubt due to the multitude of letters he had received from me and my colleagues on this subject, and decided to bring these furloughed employees back to work. it would be a shame if the thousands of dod civilian employees who were needlessly furloughed were not paid for time they could have spent working had the secretary given the same level of priority to this issue that he did to college football. thank you and i yield back. >> gentleman's time is expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> mr. speaker, i yield 45 seconds to my colleague from new mexico. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from new mexico. >> i rise in support of this bill, which is important to all the federal employees in new mexico. it ensures that furloughed employees will be made whole. it is also important for contract employees who work in

national labs. it is fair that congress intends to inflate those workers who provide vital services to our nation. in the past, dod has shot -- sought to treat lab employees the same as federal employees. this sets precedent for how those employees will be treated. mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to submit into the record my letter to the secretary expressing congressional intent to inflate those workers who provide vital support to our nation and the effect of a shutdown -- >> without objection, and your time is expired. chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> i yield two minutes to the gentleman from illinois. >> chair recognizes the tournament from illinois. >> i'm pleased to see that once again, this chamber is moving forward with yet another bill to fund our government. we are ensuring that all federal employees are paid so that families are not harmed during

the shutdown. i was a federal employee for 16 years. i'm also proud to represent scott air force base in the metro east area of illinois. whether they are active duty, civilian, reserve, guard, or retired, we must take care of our military. the house is already acted to ensure that these men and women are paid, but unfortunately, this administration has chosen needlessly to furlough workers. today, i stand with these hard- working men and women, and i also stand against this administration who always seems to find a way to make situations like this as painful as possible. we have been told to make things difficult for people as much as we can, said a park ranger this week to reporters. i had a similar experience a few months ago with an airport in my district that was at risk of losing their control tower. even though we told the administration how they could shift the money around. to solve this problem, we had to

stand on this floor and pass a bill, and now that tower remains open. congress had to pass a bill and has to pass a bill now to stop this behavior, and i am offended by the punitive behavior of this white house then and today. mr. speaker, i stand with all military personnel, and i yield back the balance of my time. >> the gentleman yield back the balance of time. >> mr. speaker, i yield 45 seconds to mr. hinojosa, chairman of the congressional hispanic caucus. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of bipartisan bill hr 3223, the federal employee retroactive pay fairness act. 87% of americans expressed in a political poll on happiness -- unhappiness with the direction of washington in this shutdown. federal employees are just trying to do the job, support their families.

they had no time to plan financially for this crisis brought on by the stubbornness of the republican party. it seems to me that by supporting this bill, we are not trying to give them a paid vacation. if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would bring a clean cr to the floor, they could all be back to work on monday. these families are victims of the dysfunction of this congress. >> time is expired. chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the tillman from texas. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of this bill to guarantee our federal workers are paid. they should not be the innocent ponds in the middle of a debate caused by us unable to work with the senate. we are ready, willing, and able

to talk, but we need to ratchet down the rhetoric and little bit, make sure our employees get paid, make sure they get taking care of, and make sure that the people who work in the district i represent our secure and safe. we need to get this done. republicans are trying to lessen the impact by passing bill after bill. we have passed something to fund most of the government, including obamacare with the exception of the individual mandate. we are ready, willing, and able to negotiate, and i call on the senate to speak with us to get this done. >> i remind the gentleman we could get it done today. with that, mr. speaker, i yield to my colleague from maryland, congresswoman edwards, 45 seconds. >> chair recognizes the congresswoman from maryland. >> i have unanimous -- i seek

unanimous consent to revise my remarks. i rise in support of hr 3223, and i speak in support of tracy and laurel, who was in my district. she helps her mom out every month with her federal salary, and christopher and his wife, both of whom work at the department of homeland security, and they are both on furlough. and dini, a single-parent. she has already been furloughed the summer and suffered mightily, so mr. speaker, i think this is the right thing to do, but let's keep in mind that the longer we stay out, and meeting the day to day needs of our federal workforce is really tough, and some of these people will really struggle even if they are guaranteed retroactive pay. time for us to get the entire government back to work. thank you, and i yield. >> chair recognizes the tillman from ohio. >> i gild one minute to the tillman from pennsylvania. >> chair recognizes the

gentleman from pennsylvania. >> this morning, i rise in strong support of the federal employee retroactive pay fairness act. federal workers in pennsylvania have reached out to my office concerned about the impact of this shutdown on their family budget. these workers serve their fellow citizens. we recognize and set -- thank them for their service. the bill will retroactively pay his employees during the shutdown. federal workers should not be punished for the senate's will to come to the table and negotiate to end the shutdown -- the senate's old -- the senate toss refusal -- the senate's refusal to come to the table and negotiate to end the shutdown. >> i yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. butterfield. >> the chair recognizes the

gentleman from north carolina. >> thank you for yielding. i was walking on the floor moments ago, and my colleague on the other side said that this failure to pass the cr was punitive behavior of this white house. i cannot allow that to go unanswered. the fact is there are 200 60 votes right now in this chamber to pass a clean bill -- >> the gentleman's time is expired. chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland. >> my -- may i inquire as to whether the gentleman has additional speakers? >> we do not. >> very well, then we will close. mr. chairman, it is critical that the house passed hr 3223 to ensure that our dedicated federal employees are made whole

and receive back pay once this shutdown comes to an end. federal employees have been the shutdown -- subject to relentless attacks. this bill is the least we should do. our hard-working public servants should not become collateral damage in the political games and ideological wars that the republicans are waging, and i would hope we would have a unanimous vote because so many people are living from paycheck to paycheck and need our vote. i would suggest that we open up the government -- the entire government -- so that all our employees can get back to work. i yield back. >> the gentleman yield back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. >> the other side of the aisle would have us believe that this shutdown is somehow a republican engineered shutdown. they would have you believe it is a government only shutdown

with republican leadership, and we know that is not the case. the government shut down when there's a failure of the democratic process to work and parties to negotiate in good faith. the president has absolutely shut that down with his refusal to negotiate. the government shut down when mr. reagan was in the white house. the democrat-controlled congress shut the government down a total of eight times for 14 days. the democrat-controlled congress actually shut the government down for reagan for longer than it has been shutdown now. and again, under mr. clinton, of course, the house also shut the government down. in each of those instances, there was something different than what is now, and that is that there were negotiations going on. president reagan was negotiating with the house and senate. president clinton was

negotiating with the house and senate, but this president said absolutely no negotiations. this president will negotiate with syria. he will negotiate with iran. he will even have secret negotiations with russia and the secret deals, but he will not negotiate with the legislature. he will not negotiate over the debt limit. he wants to take the country from $17 trillion to $19 trillion in debt -- no negotiation. and my community, there were 12,000 people that were furloughed. the president will not negotiate. the president will not negotiate on funding the government. we have sent countless bills to the senate that would reopen national parks, that would fund the veterans, that would allow the washington, d.c., to spend its own funds, and harry reid heartlessly has said in response to these bills that would provide needless services, "why would we do that?" we know the president is paying playing politics because this house and senate passed pay our military act. the president signed it into law. i have two letters questioning why he would have furloughed

400,000 dod workers when he had signed the pay our military act. how do we know that they were playing politics by letting the department of defense employees go even though the president had full authority to fund them? because he is going to be calling them back. he is calling them back without any other passage of any other law. clearly, the president is admitting that he has been playing politics with these furloughs, and it needs to stop. it also needs to stop so that our federal workers do not have to worry about their pay or the impact on their personal lives. they have child care expenses, house payments to make, kids that are in college, what and why the president refuses to negotiate while he's playing politics, they should not worry about whether they can make ends meet. i encourage my colleagues to support hr 3223 that would restore the pay to federal workers and make sure they have the support they need.

>> eric cantor another house republican spoke to republicans -- spoke to reporters. this is 10 minutes. >> good morning. the house just took another step to try and ease the pain of the federal government shut down, ensuring that furloughed employees will get their back pay. as you can see it was unanimous vote in the house. yesterdayten word that the obama administration had been making it difficult if not impossible for chaplains, and conduct services on government property during the shutdown. we thought that was an abuse of the shutdown unwanted make sure that the fundamental

constitutional right to practice your faith was being upheld. nearly unanimous on the house floor. here is anlooking at administration, president that seems to be unwilling to sit down and talk with us. we had a majority leader in the senate that is unwilling to work out our differences. it does not make sense why he would want to the american people in that enforce the pain on them. we had 57 democrats that supported bipartisan bills to relieve the pain of the shutdown. you have to ask yourself now with the anonymous point -- unanimous vote we just saw for federal employees, what about

the veterans? do the democrats not feel that it is important to make sure that the pain and disease on them? what about the sick children that need access to clinical trials? is it just the federal employees they think is important. we can work this out. we have thought that the shutdown has been brought about by the president's unwillingness to sit down and talk with members of congress on the hill. if you were to ask, this has been almost absent when it comes to working out our differences. we are going to stay focused on trying to ease the pain of this while we continue to ask both the president and senate majority leaders to sit down and talk.

>> we never desired a shutdown. most americans do not realize that are final bill was to sit down and talk about our difference. earlier the president canceled his trip to asia. we are here this weekend. this can all and bear all the president has to do is sit down along with the senate democrats only can move forward. let's recap what has gone on this week. on wednesday, the house passed opening the national parts, funding the nih. on thursday the house passed funding the guard and reserves, funding our veterans. friday we passed the national was ever in recovery act. friday nutrition assistant for low income women and children.

today we made sure all the federal employees in the military was able to have service on sunday. the senate, wednesday, no roll call votes. thursday, no roll call votes. friday, no roll call votes. they did adopt a national checkpoint. this has to stop. everyone hurts from the shutdown. whenever desired to shut down and we never asked to shut down. we continue to fund the government. now is the time for everyone to pick up the phone to work together and solve the problems. >> while senate democrats and the president refuse to negotiate with house republicans, we continue to do our work. the past 12 bills that fund critical parts of the federal government. we have just passed a bill that will take care of the 800,000

federal employees that were furloughed. contrary to what the president and those in the white house believe, there are no winners when the federal government shuts down. the house is not want to shut down. we believe their " my way or the highway" mentality cannot be sustained. we look forward to working through our differences so that we can stop inflicting pain on hard-working americans. >> this is a great challenge we have. we really do not want to be here. we have to find a way to resolve our differences. it is important to say we have our negotiators. we are looking for the senate negotiators. they are not willing to sit down

and negotiate. they are willing to assign next week as national chest week. they are willing to be able to say the will do with the trucker sleep apnea issues. i am amazed that after this conference passed unanimously, the senate has unanimously, and the president signed instructions that our military and civilian contractors should be held harmless in this entire shutdown that after a week we are still waiting for them to implement the law that was put into place a week ago. they are allowing us to have more and more pain specifically in the military. all of us agreed together that they would be held harmless

entirely. it is very frustrating that we even have to pass something today for them to practice their religious faith. it is essential part of their life. for the administration to pull back and say there are places where you will not have worship on a weekend is absolutely unacceptable. i am glad we passed that in the house today. hopefully the senate will take that out. this is something we have to d we have to do. make sure we are continuing to looking at the intent. >> the republican position has continued to be no special treatment under the law. no special treatment under

obamacare. our position has been that the administration continues to get special treatment to big business and special interest and have left working middle- class americans out. our position is to get in the same treatment. the republican position has been we do not think it is proper for members of congress to have special treatment under the law. i asked my friends in the media to look at the boats we have taken. 57 democrats have voted with us on a bipartisan way. to ease the pain of the shutdown. i would implore my friends in the media to ask harry reid why he did not bring up any of these bills. i think there is a majority of senators susan ward these hills to ease the pain -- senators to support these hills to ease the pain while we wait for the

president to join us in these discussions. >> what about this stuff that you do not find worthy? >> we have committed to fund the areas of government that we all agree on, which is a lot more than not. as you know, the disagreement is on the special treatment under obama care. our position is very simple. it is no special treatment under the law. it is to delay the individual mandate. why are middle-class americans subject to the tax and penalties but not big business? that is not fair. what we have seen is the senate refuse to take the bills up and try to vent their anger and impose that on the american oh.

we are trying to ease the pain. there is a majority of senators who would say we really believe that sick children ought to have access to clinical trials. we believe that poor women and children should have the assistance they need. we do not believe they should be put through this pain. i implore you to ask the majority leader why he is not taking these bills up. >> the majority of the senate wants to take the bills out. why would any house be able to get a vote on that? >> there has been no roll call votes in the senate. we are saying we have a lot in common. i think most american people do not tolerate the fact that this president has continued to insist that she is not going to talk.

if you saw james a baker's comments, he said it was an utter failure of presidential leadership for this president to sit on the sidelines to issue warnings and to stare at the markets and public about this. if something were to happen, he could say "i told you so." that is not leadership. it is that in willingness to sit down and talk to us that has wrought about the shutdown. we will continue to the here this weekend and we are any indication that they are willing to sit down and talk with us so we can relieve the pain on the american will thank you. >> the pentagon is ordering

civilian employees back to work despite the ongoing government shutdown. the decision was made based on congress signed and that provides paid to military services. -- whoseiate contribute toes capabilities and readiness of service members. putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house of vince, and offering complete gavel to gavel coverage of the house.

>> if the house for the past the senate including revolution that would end -- this is 40 minutes. >> it is still morning. good morning, everyone. we have some news for you today. that is what we think we have every day. you do not always agree. today marks the fifth day of the government shutdown. this could be over in hours if the republicans would just take

"yes those quote for an answer "yes" for an answer incentive being the party of "no." republicans have said no each time. two in the republican shut down 200 members have sounds their names to a letter reaffirming our commitment for a clean, continuing resolution. this is not been easy for our members. they are willing to do so. on the republican side, the republican members have come forward to say they're willing to vote to reopen government.

right now enough republicans have publicly stated their support for a bill that could pass and be on the residence desk today. we're asking them to bring up a boat to the floor for the republicans to show there is a bipartisan majority to end the republican government shutdown. if that were not newsworthy enough, 200 democrats have signed a letter and others that will vote with us do not philosophically sign letters, at the beginning the speaker said he wanted regular order. he said that all along. he wanted regular order. that means when the house passes a bill, which it did, and the

senate passes a bill, which it has, then you go to conference. after that he said, why are you not appointing this to the budget conference? his statement was under the rules if you appoint them, the minority has a right to offer motions to construct which become politically motivated bombs to throw on the house floor. to be frank with all of you, we are following what i would describe as a resident order. to be frank with him, the regular order is not how he defines it. under the rules, any member would have the privilege to bring up the senate position.

in public and otherwise, they said his concern was a motion to instruct. if you agree to pass a short- term bill and move the conference to the final budget discussion for this fiscal year, we will not offer any motion to abstract. this is news. please recognize it as such. the speaker said that is his concern. we want to take that concern off the table. today we are giving republicans yet another opportunity to end their shutdown.

the opportunity that the speaker has been asking for. we have accepted the number, as it am -- as unpleasant as it is for us to do, we have agreed to not offer motions to abstract and we have voted to pay the federal employees for not working. why don't we pay them for working by opening government? we can have it open over the weekend in full force by monday. they want to work. the american people want government to be open. it is on -- in everyone's interest that they except our offer of 200 votes. all they need is a couple dozen republican votes. we have procedurally try to accommodate and allayed their

concerns. let's open government. give us a book. >> thank you very much. \>> thank you very much. this is an important tool of the minority. and for that matter anyone else in the house. to tell the conference committee what they should do. he speaker has asked rest a concern about that. i think his concern is inconsistent with the transparency that the republicans want to bring to the house. notwithstanding that and how important this device is to the majority -- minority and majority, we are saying that we will not do that. he believes politics will play

with this. we have no intention of doing this. we want to encourage them for encouraging the speaker. that should not be and will not be a concern of them or a reason for them to delay going to conference on the budget. we are now in the fifth day of a shutdown. we have just voted to pay the employees as we should have. the american public wants bit government open. the speaker needs to bring a bill to the floor. a lesser indicate that clearly

in my view there are enough people to pass on the government opening on the government funding bill. we will do so at the republican suggested number of dollars. there's no argument about dollars. democrats are ready to help end the shutdown by voting for the senate's bill which put the people's government back to work here at republicans have voted seven times to block the senate bill to reopen government from the house floor. while i am pleased that the house just voted to restore pay, it is time to get them back to work as well. democrats have arty compromise by the funding level. we are ready as we have been four months. many have said we need an agreement.

he is going to outline the significant issues that need to be discussed. i believe this to mr. van hollen. i want to thank the leader for taking this initiative with which all of us agree. it is critical for our national security, economy, and for the confidence of the american people that we get their government back to work working for them as we discussed differences between the two parties in reaching compromise which is so essential in any democracy. let me yield to my friend the assistant leader. >> thank you for yielding. we have spent the better part of this week doing something which i do not believe should be the prerogative of the members of

congress. we are picking winners and losers. that to me is very unfortunate. it is unfortunate because brian carter, a name we have all gotten to know, may not be the face of what we're doing here this week but he is in fact the storyline. brian carter was seriously injured two days ago because he was protecting the members of congress, protecting us from those we may not get a chance to know. unfortunately, brian was working, providing that protection for no pay.

that is a storyline of what this is all about. i spoke with brian several times. he does not want us to be supporting him. over his spouse and his siblings. we just voted to give him back that pay when all of this comes to a close. what are we doing for his spouse and siblings? he does not feel comfortable thinking we are not providing educational needs and services to his children and grandchildren. congress ought not be in the business of picking winners and losers. certainly we ought not be doing

things that pitt family against family. with that i would like to yield to the chair of our budget committee. >> thank you. i want to start with the point that leader nancy pelosi made about the action that we took today in the house of representatives. i think we all agree that no one should be made to suffer for actions that are no fault of their own. it was totally appropriate that the house of representatives in that dedicated federal workers who are among the many innocent victims of the government shut down will be held harmless and the long run. that was the right thing to do. that highlight the sheer folly of the current government shut down. we want to make sure these people are paid.

they want to get back to doing what they love which is working on behalf of the public. if we're going to be providing the pay as we should, we should have them come back to work which is why we have been all along saying we should go to reopen the federal government and bring all the federal employees back to work. if you look at what republicans are doing, they're saying let's fund the natural -- national park service or fema. today their proposals that lets not get back pay. it is not say let's give that pay to folks at fema. it said let's make sure all federal employees are held harmless. let's get back pay to all federal employees. so why are they not bringing up a bill that allows all federal employees to get to work? it makes absolutely no sense at all.

the american people are paying for these important services. we want to make sure every federal employee gets back to work to do their job. that is what federal employees want to be able to do. the way to do that is in a boat right now to and the government shut down. as my colleagues have said ever since march we have been really clear that we have been clear of a negotiation on the budget. on three occasions we have called for a vote for the speaker to a point budget negotiators so they can negotiate with the senate. on all three occasions, speaker boehner and the republicans said no to negotiations on the budget. in the senate, harry reid and patty murray tried 18 times 12 point budget negotiators. paul 18 times senator ted cruz and senator mike lee and the

republican said no. senator mccain said it was irrational for them to say no. they said no. that is why we have not had any budget conversations for months and months. as the leader said, we have been hearing this notion that democrats would exercise our rights to offer motions to instruct. a few weeks ago during a hearing, paul ryan said they will move forward with budget negotiations. this was news to all of us. the leaders said we are making news today by saying we will give up the right in order to do what we did from the beginning. the right -- the last point i want to make is what negotiations involve.

they have been totally mischaracterizing the statement. what the president has been saying is that he will not negotiate away the full faith and credit of the united states. republicans cannot say they will only do what they should do in order to get their republican agenda through the house. that is not the way it works. we all share a responsibility. they have the budget that chairman ryan put forward. we think it is very harmful to the country. it squeezes many seniors on medicare. it cuts $7 billion over 10 years. that is their budget. we passed the budget.

we have an important plan amid to reinvest in the country to get the economy going again. we have a jobs plan. what else does he call for? replacing the sequester. in education, infrastructure it remains in place not just through november 15 but through this time this year. there will be up to 1.2 million fewer american jobs. their best estimate is that we will have 800 thousand. that wipes out the last four plus months of job growth in this country. that is a self-inflicted wound we cannot afford. we have a long-term plan to

reduce the deficit. in a balanced way. the deficit right now has been cut in half. we know we have to make progress in the long-term deficit. we have a plan to do that. we ask for shared responsibility. people are making millions and millions of dollars a year. our point is we want to have a budget negotiation. that whole republican wishlist, they do not get to force that down the countries fro to write threatening to default on our debts or to shut down the government. -- throat threatening to default on our that's or to shut down the government. you do not get the republican agenda in exchange for doing what every member should do anyway which is pay our nations bills on time. they have work to make sure we're all on the same page.

>> the house of representatives is not a sandbox. this republican shut down of our government is serious. the american people know that. they have been saying that since the republican shut down our government on october 1. what they're telling us is it is time for no more excuses. they are saying we should stop acting like children in the house of representatives. the republican shut down the

government is not just serious. it is also absurd. someone tried to explain that the republicans tried to shut down the government on october 5 they decided to pay all the workers that they told do not come into work. if it were not so serious it would be absurd. we are here to say what americans are saying all over the place. put america back to work. let them vote on a clean budget bill to put americans back to work. what we should be okasan on our elected representatives of this country. building a stronger middle class, creating more jobs. putting americans out of work, not putting them into a state of

anxiety if whether or not they will be able to pay their bills. who thinks anyone of our veterans wants to be part of a republican gimmick is shutting down the government where they are spared as veterans from the pain of a government shutdown? i do not think there is a veteran in america he will say take care of me and leave our children behind. that is the gimmick that takes place today. americans are telling us we please put your country before your party? if republicans simply put themselves in the shoes of the american people, no small business in america on main street would rhyme they operate would run their operations the

way the house of representatives. let america work. let congress vote for a clean budget bill to put americans back to work. let's get to the business of building a stronger middle class. let me yield now to the chairman of the democratic national campaign committee. >> in this game of ping-pong, his side is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. he keeps creating excuses not to vote. we keep taking them away from him. it is simply time to vote. this weekend is going to be an another moment of truth for john boehner. 200 democrats have signed a

letter that 90% of our caucus saying to the speaker we are ready to a vote on a clean budget. we have heard that there are between 20 and 22 republicans have said back home that they are ready to vote for a clean budget. now it is time for them to put it where their budgets are. they are saying they will support a clean budget with no strings attached and now have the opportunity to reopen this government. they now have the opportunity to hold to their promises. we're going to hold them accountable. you cannot hold this at home and then act like a lapdog. those 22 republicans who said

they will vote with 98% of the government without strings attached, this is their moment of truth. now it is up to them to do the same. i am actually hopeful -- i really am hopeful -- that those 20-22 republicans who have claimed to want result this problem and pursue a solution are going to keep their word, not to any of their colleagues, but to the constituents that they gave there were two -- their word to. thank you, i now yield to nobody, because i'm the last figure. >> i thank all of my colleagues for their eloquent statements about what our purpose here is, in terms of her presenting the american people and getting the

job done for them. thank you, mr. van hollen, for working so hard on the budget over the years. what our proposal is today -- here is the letter -- these are three pages of signatures of names. the members who have signed a letter. we have accepted their number. i think it is important to note, the cut -- the president has accepted their number. united states senate has accepted the republican number. democrats and the house have accepted the republican number. the only missing piece are the republicans in the house except in their own number. what is the problem? if the issue is that you do not want to bring it up as once we go to the budget table we will have motions to instruct, which you characterize in away i would not describe, but nonetheless, however you want to describe it, we are not doing it. it is an unprecedented offer on behalf of a minority in this case, the democrats to the republicans.

it is so important we think to open government. we are paying the bill. now let us put people back to work for the american people. for all of the purposes that the american people look to us. any questions? >> what was speaker boehner's response to you? >> i think he knows it is a good-faith effort on our part. i told him in the context of, i want you to know, this is an offer we are making to you, and we are going to make this offer public. it wasn't like i was blindsiding him with it. >> we just came from a press conference with republican leaders. is there any conversation going on in the background, behind the scenes, between you guys and republicans today, tomorrow,

plans to try to come to -- >> we just made the offer this morning to the speaker. that is one of the conversations. if this is, in fact, his concern about going to the budget table and appointing conferees, then we want to take that concern off the table. >> everything is being planned out before our eyes. >> not to my knowledge. i hope meetings are happening with someone, whether it is the white house or senate, but we thought that when the speaker said that he was not going to default on the debt, he was going to have a bipartisan agreement to do that. that give us hope that there might be some time when we would discuss that. >> i just want to say, there aren't a lot, because we have

agreed to what they passed. nobody believes that the affordable care act was going to be repealed or that we were going to stop the individual mandate. nobody in their party -- strike that -- the majority of their party did not believe that. they thought it was optics for their base. at this point in time, we are saying, yes to their offer. i served on the preparations committee with leader pelosi and others, mr. clyburn -- i served for 23 years on the appropriate and committee. normally, when you are about to and the government funding authorization, you get to the end of the year. normally, the numbers are different. you have to sit down and say, which numbers are we going to use? if you pass an appropriation bill, it you will say -- you will say, the lower of the house or senate bill? we said, yes, we will take her

number. we will not take her number forever. we will go and talk about it. we will go to the committee and talk about it. that is how the process works. that is how regular order works. that is how the american people run their lives when they have differences, whether in the family or someone else. they sit down and talk. i want to tell you, i have talked republicans on a relatively regular basis. absolutely. i talk to them everyday about what they think is happening. without mentioning names, an overwhelming number of the people i talk to, conservative republicans think, hey, we ought to get this done and get the government open and then talk

about other areas that we want to try to get agreement on. >> thank you. let me answer that. i have talked to quite a few republicans about this. i agree with what the senator said. what we are saying is, we will accept your number.

we have already accepted your number. every republican i have talked to tells me they want to get rid of the sequester. every one of them. the problem is, the number we have accepted, they extend into sequester. if we extend this the next six weeks, then we would have a discussion on how to go forward, how to get rid of sequester. a river plant not in my district just furloughed 1400 people. that is not what the representatives of that plant want to do. it is not in my district. >> you fought for that plant. >> i fought very hard for that plant. in fact, to the chagrin of a few people here standing behind me, i fought very hard to get the level of funding that they've got here.

this is a payback -- the payback i'm getting from some of my colleagues. >> i constantly hear my republican colleagues say that the president and democrats are not willing to negotiate or compromise. i think my colleagues here have described, not only have lend -- have we been willing to negotiate and compromise, but we have accepted the republican number on the budget, which we find offensive. because we do not believe it is right to close on the government to exercise your own social agenda and political agenda, we have decided to negotiate and compromise to that number. i point is this, i hope one of these times when one of our republican colleagues gets up and says, democrats and the president, they are not negotiating or compromising, you will ask them, did the republican leadership go across the aisle, not across the city to 1600 pennsylvania, but across the hallway to meet with their democratic counterparts, all 200 of us, to ask us to negotiate and request some compromise on each and every one of the bills they have been putting on the floor. have they at all ever reach out to democrats in the same body with them to negotiate the bills they have put on the ford? i think you are going to get a very clear answer. they have never sat down with us to craft these bills. so, i hope you will pose the question to them, if they are so adamant about having the president or democrats negotiate or compromise with them, have they taken the time to walk across the hall to the office of their democratic colleagues, all 200 of us, to ask us if we are willing to negotiate or compromise on bills they are putting on the house floor?

>> what do you think of the idea of calling in the house on saturday morning to vote on a bill that could have been voted on yesterday, and sending everybody home to come back on monday night? >> at a time when we have a republican government shutdown, i think we should be here working through. i think it is possible for us to open government on monday. if you are a taxpayer in our country, you say, i don't like this government shutdown because

i'm not getting -- you are not getting our service, but now we are going to pay the public employees for not delivering our services. our public employees are patriotic. their public servants. i want to work. -- they want to work. to say we will pay people but they don't have to work, it just does not make any sense. i just want to say this because i think this'll be our last question, and i will yield to my

colleague -- when you ask about negotiating and these conversations, and they make a big to-do about the president saying one thing or another, three things -- the full faith and credit of the united states of america, not negotiable. the idea that they are going to defund, overturn, or delay the affordable care act -- that is not going to happen. as i said to my colleagues yesterday, that is like saying, give me your first-born child, and we will talk about the rest of the family. it is just not going to happen. the third point is to bring back the bill, their bill, which was, again, approved by the president, approved by the senate, approved by the house democrats, but not by them. the point of having these names on this letter is to say to those republicans -- all the conversations we have been having -- the word is that they are saying, we might be willing to vote for this if we know it is going to pass. we are saying to them, if there are two dozen of you were just fewer than that who are willing to vote for that, it is going to pass.

we are not asking them to take any risk. we are showing that this 98% of house democrats have signed the letter, and more will vote for the bill who do not sign letters, so we just need a dozen and a half or two dozen republicans to open government, to go to the table to negotiate. the president is willing to negotiate on all that mr. van hollen talked about, infrastructure, investing in jobs, and the opportunity cost of what is happening in terms of the entrepreneurship and the greatness of america is

stunning. we are having these conversations which should be swept aside and move onto, how can we work together in a nonpartisan way to address the challenges we face again in a very positive way? we know we can find common ground, but there are elements in the public and party are determined that it will be the party of no. no, we will not accept your offer of giving us our number. no, we are not going to open up government even if you agree with us on how to go forward.

no, we are not going to say yes, but we will see what happens today and hope for a positive response. with that, i yielded to my colleagues for whatever closing statements they may have. >> let me respond to your question. i think it is a recognition of the discussed that the american -- of the disgust that the american people feel for the failure to take an action that would have taken five minutes on september 30 to do everything and much more than we have done in the last five days. it is the appearance of action without the substance of action. it is a recognition that we ought to be working to get this done. the problem is, it is so simple to get done that we are having these filler bills to pretend that we are doing things when the reality is, in five minutes as mr. van hollen has so frequently said, we could open the government up, put people back to work, go to conference on the budget, discuss our differences, and be a responsible, effective board of

directors for the greatest nation on the face of the earth. i think that is what i make of it. >> look, today's actions, as we have said, just absolutely highlighted the madness and folly of the republican leadership position. what they have said is that we are going to pay all of the federal employees, as we should, but we are going to pay them to

stay at home. we have been saying, let's send everybody back to work as they want to go, and they are essentially saying, let's pay them, but we are going to prevent them from going back to work. they will stand at the doors of federal agencies and prevent people from doing their jobs while they say they want to pay people ultimately to do their jobs.

federal employees want to get back to serving the public. that is what they love to do. it is an absolutely absurd position. i just want to emphasize one last thing, which the leader has mentioned and others have mentioned -- we have tried to negotiate on the budget from the very beginning. they have blocked us from those negotiations from the very beginning. they blocked those negotiations for one simple reason -- when you have a negotiation between the house republican budget and the democratic budget and the president's budget, you actually have to reach a compromise. there has to be give and take.

you have to meet somewhere in the middle. we don't like the provisions in their budget that squeeze seniors on medicare who have a median income of $23,000. we don't like the parts of the budget that provide another windfall tax break to very wealthy people, like the romney- ryan ticket wanted to do. we don't like the parts of their budget that deficit -- that decimate important investments. we have our own budget alternative. we want to make those important investments in our future. we want to replace the sequester that is a drag on the economy. we want to address the long-term deficit program -- problem through a combination of smart, targeted cuts, but also through the elimination of tax breaks for very wealthy people. and balanced approach to reducing the deficit. we have our approach and the president does, and they have

their street at the idea of a budget negotiation is you meet in the middle. i do not want to compromise. they say no. what republicans are going to give as the policy concession, we are going to make sure that the united states pays our bills on time. we are going to do it every member of congress has the responsibility of doing. we are saying, no. you cannot hold the full faith and credit of the united states hostage to try to enact your radical policy agenda. we all have to vote to make sure we pay our bills on time. let's get together at the table and negotiate those important priorities separately. you are going to be hearing this conversation a lot going forward. they want to set this conversation up as if they are making a huge concession by agreeing to pay our bills on time, and in exchange for that, we've got to adopt their budget agenda. that is the way they are trying to set this up. we have to meet in the middle. in exchange for republicans doing the responsible thing, you've got to give us our budget agenda. that is not the middle. that is political extortion. the middle is between our budget proposal and the president priorities and their budget proposal, which we think is harmful to the country. thank you all very much. >> a number of presidents have graduated from harvard over the years. tens of thousands of schoolchildren each year. they did not want the congestion and the the traffic. one universe got involved in deciding whether or not to except the library, but the question is what do we do with the museum.

>> the legacy of 13 presidents. , part ofry, sunday american tv this weekend on c- span3. the government shutdown was the topic of president obama has his weekly address. and the republican address also spoke about the shutdown. >> good morning. earlier this week, the republican house of representatives chose to shut down a government they don't like over a health care law they don't like. and i've talked a lot about the real-world consequences of this shutdown in recent days -- the services disrupted, the benefits delayed, the public servants kicked off the job without pay. but today, i want to let the americans dealing with those real-world consequences have their say. and these are just a few of the many heartbreaking letters i've gotten from them in the past couple weeks including more than

30,000 over the past few days. kelly mumper lives in rural alabama. she works in early education, and has three children of her own in the marines. here's what she wrote to me on wednesday. "our head start agency was forced to stop providing services on october 1st for over 770 children, and 175 staff were furloughed. i am extremely concerned for the welfare of these children. there are parents who work and who attend school. where are they leaving their children? is it a safe environment? are they getting the food that they receive at their head start program?" on the day julia pruden's application to buy a home for her and her special needs children was approved by the usda's rural development direct loan program, she wrote me from minot, north dakota. "we put in an offer to purchase a home this weekend, and it was accepted.

if funding does not go through, our chances of the american dream are down the drain. we have worked really hard to get our credit to be acceptable to purchase a home. if it weren't for the direct lending program provided by the usda, we would not qualify to buy the home we found." these are just two of the many letters i've received from people who work hard, try to make ends meet, try to do right by their families. they're military or military spouses who've seen commissaries closed on their bases. they're veterans worried the services they've earned won't be there. they're business owners who've seen their contracts with the government put on hold, worried they'll have to let people go. i want them to know, i read the stories you share with me. these are our fellow americans. these are the people who sent us here to serve. and i know that republicans in the house of representatives are hearing the same kinds of stories, too. as i made clear to them this week, there's only one way out

of this reckless and damaging shutdown. pass a budget that funds our government, with no partisan strings attached. the senate has already done this. and there are enough republican and democratic votes in the house of representatives willing to do the same, and end this shutdown immediately. but the far right of the republican party won't let speaker john boehner give that bill a yes-or-no vote. take that vote, stop this farce, end this shutdown now. the american people don't get to demand ransom in exchange for doing their job. neither does congress. they don't get to hold our democracy or our economy hostage over a settled law. they don't get to kick a child out of head start if i don't agree to take her parents' health insurance away. that's not how our democracy is supposed to work. that's why i won't pay a ransom in exchange for reopening the government. and i certainly won't pay a ransom in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. for as reckless as a government

shutdown is, an economic shutdown that comes with default would be dramatically worse. i'll always work with anyone of either party on ways to grow this economy, create new jobs, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul, but not under the shadow of these threats to our economy. pass a budget, end this government shutdown. pay our bills, prevent an economic shutdown. these americans and millions of others are counting on congress to do the right thing. and i will do everything i can to make sure they do. >> i am senator john cornyn. every day capitol hill police officers protect members of congress and our visiting guests with courage, dignity, and professionalism. their efforts often go unnoticed. whenever there called upon to

act, we are reminded of their bravery. i want to take this opportunity to thank the capitol hill police for all they do to protect our collective safety and security. like most americans, i was disappointed when certain parts of the federal government was forced to shut down because senate democrats refused to make any changes whatsoever to the deeply flawed health care law known as obamacare. republicans are eager to end the shutdown. the fiscal and economic reforms that our country urgently needs. we are never going to make real progress without better cooperation with our friends across the aisle. house republicans have set up legislation that will fund government operations but senate democrats have rejected each and every bill. they are arguing that the house bills are simply illegitimate because they contain policy measures that the democrats do not like.

what normally happens when of the two parties disagree on a policy is a negotiation. each side gives up a little and gets a little and you end up with a bipartisan compromise. the problem right now is senate democrats are refusing to negotiate. here is a partial list of what they rejected. they rejected a one-year delay in obamacare's mandate for individuals and families even though the administration has already delayed the mandate for employers. they have rejected a bill that would force members of congress to obey the same health care laws as everybody else. they have rejected a bill that would abolish obamacare's medical device tax even though the majority of their caucus expressed support. even though they voted against

the tax when it did not matter and voted to keep it when it did. meanwhile, president obama has threatened to veto a series of individual house bills that will fund our veterans programs and our military reserve programs as well as a national institution of health. he has also threatened to veto a bill that would keep open our war memorials, our national parks and museums. when republicans ask senate democrats to join with us and pass these bills, they simply said no. the white house claimed that somehow they were winning and it does not believe matter how much the shutdown lasts. apparently, they think the shutdown is good politics. they are in no hurry to break the stalemate. it has become disturbingly clear that the obama shutdown is no longer about health care or spending or ideology. it is about politics, plain and simple. the democrats calculated by prolonging the shutdown and

maximizing the pain, they can bully republicans into doing what ever president obama and majority leader reid wants them to do. it is a cynical game. all the republicans could do was continue to promote commonsense solutions that would end the shutdown and allow us to move forward. hopefully, our friends across the aisle will eventually get tired of playing politics. they will remember that neither house can set the national agenda all by itself. thank you for listening. and may god bless the united states of america. wes on "newsmakers, we discussed the ongoing government shutdown."

you can watch the interview sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> with the government shutdown ,ontinue to go into next week go to our facebook page two 28 full. you can see what other people are saying at .com -- facebook.com/c-span. >> in addition to the house being in session, a number of senators met. next some of the remarks beginning with edward markey of massachusetts. >> thank you, madam president. we need to bring this government

shutdown to an end, and the way to do that is for the house of representatives to pass the bill for $986 billion in a budget to run the government for a year, which john boehner and the republicans in the house of representatives asked of the senate to pass. that is the number they wanted. it is not the numbers that the democrats in the senate wanted. they wanted $986 billion to run the government for a year. they will not pass that budget. now we have a situation where we should be negotiating over

health care issues, over environmental issues, over other issues because the budget has been passed, but no, they are going to hold the entire country hostage. consider where our country stands right now. when george w. bush left office, the dow was at 7900. it is now above 15,000. at the height of the great bush recession, unemployment peaked at 10%. it is now at 7.3%. our deficit has been cut in half. we are making progress. we are not there yet. many americans continue to

struggle. as our country climbs back from the worst economic crisis since the great depression, the tea party republicans are sending america into reverse. the tea party republicans shut down the government. they are putting our economic recovery at risk. they are signaling to the world that america cannot perform the most fundamental job of government, passing a budget. in the alternative, the tea

party republican -- alternative tea party republican universe that they have created here, mr. president, has of the tea party demanding that we fund health care research while simultaneously trying to end health care coverage for millions of americans. to pay for our troops, but sideline the intelligence agents who keep us safe from terrorist attacks. they claim to defend the constitution but shutdown the building where it lives and breathes. this tea party republican logic is tying our country in knots.

it makes no sense. although the government shutdown admin night this past monday, the seeds were sown years ago. this shutdown is the product of more than a decade of disdain for the democratic process, waged by the tea party republican party that is increasingly out of the mainstream. when the republican party started losing congressional seats, they read through -- redrew electoral maps. when an historic bill was signed into law to finally make health care are right for millions of low income americans, a law that was upheld by the supreme court, a law that opened for business on tuesday, the response of the tea party republicans was to shut down the entire government. at the core of this tea party republican ideology is the idea that the democratic process our country runs on can be dismissed, that they can be manipulated, that they can be contorted to cater to the privilege at the expense -- priveleged at the expense of the poor and disenfranchised. this is not about the republican party versus the democratic already. his is about tea party -- this is about tea party republicans against democracy itself, the essence of american democracy has been our ability to govern by majority rule while respecting minority rights. our system is designed to enable compromise and avoid the divisiveness of ideological extremism. mr. president, i know all about these tea party extremist. i served in the house of representatives with them. they live by the republican tea party paradox. they hate the government so much that they have to run for office in order to make sure that the government doesn't work. now there is a new republican tea party paradox. they want to pay federal employees not to work while blocking the legislation that would put him back to work. -- put them back to work. the democrats are starting to open the government so federal employees can return to work and can earn their pay, not pay them for not working. that is the new republican paradox. the tea party republicans have a three-step plan -- number one, denying democracy. tea party republicans ignore the fact that the affordable care act passed the congress, was signed by the president, and upheld by the supreme court. tea party step number 2 -- manufacturer a crisis.

the tea party republicans shut down the government, put our country on the brink of default because they refused to accept the fact that the affordable care act is the law of the land and the american people reelected president obama. step three, turn out the lights. shut down the government. what is at stake if the affordable care act is repealed? without the affordable care act, for women everywhere in america, their gender will go back to being a pre-existing condition. they can be charged higher rates is because -- just because they are women. for families everywhere, the threat of personal bankruptcy will return. medical bills will once again lead to personal bankruptcies. for a young college graduate struggling to find a job, their parents plan is no longer an option. for low income families that have spent years taking their kids to the emergency room, and

set of regular doctor appointments, it will mean more late nights in emergency waiting rooms. who else will be harmed if the tea party republicans continue to refuse to expand the medicaid program in their respective states, the expansion that is a key part of the affordable care act? two thirds of the country's poor -- uninsured african-americans and single mothers -- more than half of low-wage workers and took -- in 26 states or federal government -- where state governments have turned down medicaid funding. under the affordable care act, every state has a choice. they could give the poor, sickest, and neediest health-care coverage through expanded medicaid paid for entirely by the federal government, or it could say, no thanks, and leave these poor people, these uninsured people in a state of uncertainty. texas turned down cold more than $100 billion in federal funding over the next decade, the nine health-care coverage for the 1.5 million -- d nine health-care coverage for the 1.5 million texas residents living in poverty. that is what tea party republicans are fighting for.

that is what it is all about. they believe they have a right to say no, we are not going to cover these people. that is their fight. they should have the freedom to deny all these people health insurance. 26 other states, all with republican governors, did the very same thing. every state in the deep south

but arkansas said no. there is an ancient greek proverb that says, the world will know true justice when those who have not been harmed are as angry as those who have been harmed. you can see all across america, people are angry. people who have not been harmed are now angry at all of those who are being harmed by what the republican tea party is doing here in congress. that is why everyone in america wants this shutdown ended. they know that eliminating the affordable care act would greatly harm the poor in our country, the children, the working families trying to make ends meet. not since the great depression have so many americans suffered from such severe economic problems. 46 million americans are living in poverty today. is $23,000 a year -- that is $23,000 a year for a family of four. there are almost 15 million -- 50 million people in our country at risk of not having enough

food. 16 million children live in poverty in the united states as we stand here today. 16 million children are living in poverty. there are more than 11 million americans out of work, 13% unemployment for african-americans, 9.2% for hispanics. it is too high for asians, whites, for native americans, or everyone in our country. behind each of those statistics is a story. behind each for low is a federal worker -- furlough is a federal worker. somewhere in georgia, there is an employee for the centers of disease control who is at home instead of stopping a flu outbreak at a local elementary school. somewhere in florida there is an fda employee who was shot out of his job inspecting fish imports for toxic contamination while a mother shops at the local grocery store, picking up salmon for dinner. somewhere in the gulf coast there is an oil rig safety officer catching up on their chores at home instead of stopping the next potential bp spill before it happens. somewhere in boston a doctor has now put on hold a clinical trial to bring a new treatment to

children born with a rare form of heart disease while a mother in milwaukee holds for sick newborn, wondering if a cure could ever be found. somewhere in massachusetts a civilian military employee tasked with developing the best gear for our soldiers is barred from entering his military base, while abroad, soldier takes fire on the front lines. here at the capitol, there are police officers who through their bodies in between the public and a threat this week, but by doing so without even receiving a paycheck. this government shutdown is just a preview of coming attractions. if republicans force us to default on our debt, millions of jobs could be destroyed. we could go from a shutdown of our government to a meltdown of our entire economy. we will not be blackmailed. we will not be threatened. we will not give up. we will stand him and we will fight. we will fight for the families who have dreamed of the security

of health care. we will fight for federal workers who deserve a paycheck. we will fight for the working families reaching for the american dream. make no mistake, what is at stake isn't just health-care. it isn't just a functioning government. it isn't just the stability of our economy. what is at stake is the future of our democratic system. you can shutdown the government, you can engage in revisionist history and revise the rules to fit your ideology, but the american people will rise up, and they are rising up to say, put america back to work.

they will not let the tea party republicans stop the progress of our country. they are going to demand justice. they are going to demand that the shutdown ends and the spirit of the american people be recognized. what we need to do, mr. president, is to get the government back to work. the senate has sent the house a bill that will end of the shutdown. the house should schedule a vote for this bill immediately. it will pass. we should not be cutting the national institutes of health that is working to fund the cure for cancer or alzheimer's or parkinson's and other diseases. we should not be keeping our civilian defense workers off the job. we should be coming together to create jobs to build better futures for all americans. we should make sure that america

pays its bills and does not default on its debts. we need to raise the debt ceiling. now is the time, mr. president. let us get to work. i yield back the balance of my time. >> madame president? >> the senator from utah. >> one wisely declared, after all is said and done, much more is said than done. a lot has been said in the well of this chamber this week. unfortunately, not much has been

done. on the other hand, speaker boehner and majority leader cantor and the members of the house of representatives, including members of both clinical parties, have done much to and the shutdown and protect the american people. the house has passed bills that would fund veterans benefits and fund the national institutes of health. the house has also approved measures to make sure our national guard gets paid and to keep our national parks open. the house funded wic, the program that provides health care and nutrition for low income women and nutrition. the house has funded fema. all of these bills have, moreover, then passed with

significant, bipartisan support -- significant bipartisan support in the house of representatives. at the risk of overstating it, i am still frick we stunned -- frankly stunned at what we are hearing from some of our colleagues. it is difficult for me to understand some of their objections to passing these bills in the senate. first, none of these bills is controversial. not one of them. the bills provide funding for noncontroversial things, like veterans or disability payments, the g.i. bill, and cancer research. these bills keep our national parks open and make sure our national guard personnel get paid. there are many things on which

democrats and republicans disagree, but whether or not to take care of our veterans should not be one of them. last i checked, it is not one of them. second, the president himself asked congress to do this. republicans in the house to the president at his word and acted immediately to draft bills that would make sure his priorities and the nation's priorities would receive funding. in response, senate democrats said that this plan to fund veterans, national parks, and other priorities was on serious. -- unserious. the biggest head scratcher of

them all -- the president issued a veto threat for bills that fund the very things he said he wanted funded. why won't the president and why won't senate democrats take yes for an answer? why are they demanding that we have to fund everything? they tell us, you have to fund everything, or we won't allow you to fund anything. third, all of these bills received significant bipartisan support in the house. in the middle of the government shutdown, surrounded by all of this divisive rhetoric, republicans and democrats came together in the house overwhelmingly to approve these bills. i think we owe it to the country to show that we can do the same thing in the senate. fourth, this approach, the

approach that has been advocated by the house of representatives, represents a path forward that was first introduced by none other than the distinguished senate majority leader himself. on monday afternoon, senator harry reid ask for unanimous consent to pass a bill that ensured that our active-duty military personnel would be paid in the event of a government shutdown. in a matter of minutes, it was past -- passed. i asked my friends across the aisle, was senator reed playing games -- reid playing games? of course not. why is it playing political games when we fund cancer research or national parks?

why is it playing games to keep our national parks open? what exactly has changed since monday? why can't we come together -- why can we come together to pass a bill funding military pay, but not fund the bill for veterans disability payments? none of these bills have to do with the implementation of obamacare. i understand my friends across the aisle support that law, despite its numerous and harmful failings. i understand they want to protect it. none of the bills we are considering relate any way to the implementation of obamacare. i am concerned that my friends across the aisle cannot see this law for what it is and what it is already doing to american families all across the country/ now the government is shut down because democrats refuse to work with us to do anything to protect him or can people from the harmful, potentially devastating, effects of obamacare. they won't even consider passing bills to fund veterans benefits, cancer research, or national parks unless obamacare is fully funded and implemented. we have an obligation to address the negative effects of this law, but the democrats refuse to negotiate. the president has issued a veto threat on funding for things that he himself asked congress to fund because the bills do not include obamacare funding, even though the programs funded in these bills have nothing to do with obamacare. i fear that the democrats are now simply the obamacare parley -- obamacare party. it is the only thing that matters to them, even though it is hurting people throughout the country already and threatens to do so far more in the coming months. a recent report included a story of a man named tom, tom from cl,

who signed up with the exchanges only to find out that his health care costs were going to skyrocket under obamacare. i will quote -- tom of seattle who is self-employed said, my premiums would increase approximately 61%. i went from $891 a month to $1474 a month. my deductibles all doubled. the letter from his insurer said his current deductible for his family of five would double from $4000 a year to $8,000. even though that is for the bronze plan, the least expense -- expensive option, he says his additional payment will give him a plan that is no better than what he already has. what's more, it also carries a benefit for his family that his family doesn't need, maternity and newborn care. my wife is 58 years old, and our youngest child is soon to be 18, says tom. we will be having a more children. that is a benefit that we would never purchase nor need nor be able to use. these are the kinds of people we are trying to protect from the slot. this is just one story among many stories. i ask my friends, join us in ending the shutdown. join us in protecting the country from obamacare. let's do the right thing for the american people. leadership is not about what is said. leadership is about what is done. so i invite my colleagues to join house speaker boehner and majority cantor and the other house members who are leading, and they are leading by doing. we can and must lead. we can and the shutdown -- end the shutdown and cite out -- and simultaneously protect the american people from the harmful effects of obamacare.

if we stand together in support of the american people, we will do this. >> may i ask of the senator would yield for a question? >> yes. >> to the chair, let me inquire whether in evaluating the relative activity of the senate and the house in trying to bring this shutdown to a conclusion, the senator would not concede that the senate has repeatedly voted on house-passed measures? we have taken them up, stripped out extraneous language, and sent them back. we have over and over again done our constitutional duty and voted. the senator might not like the way the vote came out, but does he concede that we voted on house-passed measures and the speaker of the house has never called to the floor a senate-passed measure? >> in response to the question posed by my friend from rhode island, yes, i will acknowledge we have taken votes. some votes in response to many of the pieces of legislation enacted in the house of representatives. >> and the house has never reciprocated? >> the house has not voted on

all of the things passed. >> my question wasn't whether it had been -- whether it voted on some but not all. i think the house has voted on nothing the senate has passed. they have done nothing but tea up -- tee up political votes to send over to us. >> that is not accurate. the house of representatives has sent them back in the form of messages with some of those messages carrying amendments. i see your point. it is a valid one. we have had action taken in both houses. we have had a votes cast in both houses. it is important, however, to recognize republicans have offered significant elements of copper mines in all of this. what republicans would like is the repeal of the law, understanding that is not possible under the current circumstances. they sought first to defund obamacare indefinitely. they sought that first. that was stripped out. they responded with a

significant compromise offer, offering in the next go around to defunded for -- defund it for one year. that was sent back and rejected. there are a lot of areas in government spending as to which there is broad, bipartisan, basically unanimous consent in both houses and both political parties that we ought to be continuing to fund these things at current levels. they have acted in those areas, and the senate has so far refused to go along with those. into the spirit of compromise, it would be helpful if we would act upon these. it would be helpful to have a senate -- the senate and act legislation -- enact legislation funding those parts of government that have bipartisan support. >> madame president? >> the senator from maine. >> my intention coming here was to help solve problems, to find

common ground, to work together with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. that is my history. in fact, that was my primary motivation for running, for stepping into the shoes of my illustrious predecessor olympia snowe. that is what we did this summer on student loans when a small group of bipartisan senators worked together to find a compromise, work it through both sides of this body, both parties, and then through the house, and then get the signature of the president. we got 81 votes in the senate, 392 in the house. that is what i want to try to do. that was a validation of what i am here for. this situation that we are in now cries out for resolution.

it cries out for finding common ground, for compromising, getting everybody back to work, getting the government shutdown over. why aren't we doing it? why aren't we cutting a deal? why aren't we compromising? when i talk to my colleagues in the senate, talk to house members, both republicans and democrats, there are lots of options. in fact, the house has sent us a series of options. the first one was essentially, defund, effectively repeal, the affordable care act.

then it was to delay the affordable care act. then it was to delay a part of the affordable care act. the important thing about these options and this discussion is, it is all taking place in the context of a government shutdown. that is not where negotiations should be made. that is not where negotiations and discussions should be had when he essentially the government has been shut down and one side is saying, we will not allow the government to operate unless you give us what we want on a substantive piece of legislation. this is the problem, madame president. this is why, i think, in this one case, negotiation really isn't the right course. it is a process problem. it is a practical problem. i believe it is a constitutional problem. it is perfectly appropriate to negotiate budgets. as a governor, i did it four times four biennial budgets, and numerous supplemental budgets. it is perfectly appropriate to negotiate up to the deadline. lots of late nights.

that is when a lot of this work seems to get done. in the context of budgets, negotiating the most fundamental governmental documents, you negotiate about numbers, about details, about allocations. you don't negotiate about entirely separate substantive pieces of law. in fact, that happened a month ago right here when leader reid and speaker boehner negotiated a continuing resolution on what the number should be. it was a hot and heavy negotiation. the leader compromised. he said, let's go forward, because we can do this cleanly with a continuing resolution, at a lower level than what senate democrats thought was appropriate. that is not what is going on here. we are not negotiating about what are the dollar amounts of the budget or what are the details are what are the allocations, how much to defense and how much to head start. this is an attempt to rewrite a major piece of substantive law through holding the government hostage, which is a result that

cannot be achieved through the normal democratic and constitutional processes. that is the core of this current situation. that is what is bothering me about it. i don't my negotiating budgets. i do think we should not use the threat of the government shutdown, or now the reality of a government shutdown, to obtain legislative and policy benefits that we cannot otherwise obtain through the normal constitutional process. in a very real sense, madam president, this is a frontal assault on the constitution itself. ironically, it is being led by many of those who wrap themselves daily in the constitution. i do not have one of those books, but we all have one of those books -- how a bill becomes a law. you can read those books until the spots come off, but there is going to be nothing in there that says, if all else fails, hold the government hostage, and then you can make a law. that is not what it says. mary, my wife, got me a book when i was first elected called "congress for dummies." even in that boat, it does not

say you can make laws, change laws, rewrite laws in the context of holding the country hostage. it is an attempt to create an alternative process, a new, shortcut way of achieving political ends without having to deal with those pesky elections. here is the electoral history of this bill. in 2010, the affordable care act was passed in early summer. there were elections in 2010. indeed, the republicans gain substantial seats in the house probably because of concern about the affordable care act. the senate did not turn over. that is the way the framers planted. that is why there are six year terms. so public passions and one electoral cycle do not entirely change the government. then and there was another election in 2012. in that election, in which the affordable care act was a major factor, democrats gained seats in the house, gained seats in the senate, and the president whose name is attached to this bill won by 5 million votes. in my election in maine, in every debate -- goodness knows, there were probably over 20 of them -- my republican opponent started a debate by saying, i want to repeal the affordable care act. was the whole mission.

i defended it, not in every detail, but i defended it. i won that election. here i am. mr. romney said, i will repeal obamacare on day one. he lost. here we are, madam president, in effect trying to effectuate that agenda, that policy position through an alternative process that skips around those annoying elections. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]